Nigeria to free 167 detained in Islamic uprising

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria's military says it is releasing 167 people detained in the emergency crackdown to fight an Islamic uprising.

A statement Friday from Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade said the detainees will be freed by presidential decree from "facilities" in the three northeastern states. Those releases were recommended by an investigative panel last year.

Nigeria's government has refused to respond to accusations that hundreds of detainees swept up in indiscriminate roundups are missing, have been executed, or have died of suffocation and starvation while in detention.

Security forces deployed under a state of emergency in May drove extremists out of urban centers in the northeast but have failed to halt attacks that have killed thousands.